Sunday, June 28, 2009

Quick Update

I'm currently working on Balzac's "Father Goriot," which I'm enjoying immensely. But I think I'm going to have to bring my French lit. studies to an end sooner than I thought, probably right after I'm done with this novel. The reason is that I miss Shakespeare so much. I fancy reading his plays back to back to back and I can hardly wait to get to them. I will have to save the rest of the French works that I planned to read for later.

That's all for today.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Proust's "Swann's Way"

Should you read Proust's "Swann's Way," the first book in his epic series, "In Search of Lost Time"? I think in order to answer that question I would need to know what it is you hope to gain from reading, as well as what kind of book you usually enjoy. If it is an easy, fun read, then this is definitely not for you. Proust is one of those authors who are known to be difficult, but how is he difficult? His language is definitely one of the reason; he constructs extensive sentences with limited variation of punctuation; he doesn't take care to arrange his sentences and paragraphs in ways that make the content of his writing more comprehensible; the structure of the novel is very lose--that is to say, he is not the most proficient at the craft of writing. That, however, doesn't mean he is a bad writer; there are reasons why some writers choose to create their works the difficult way. If I met anybody who says that Proust is not difficult I would probably think him or her a genius or a liar. Proust is difficult--that is a universally acknowledged truth--but some may find pleasure in the difficulty, or complexity, of the work.

I enjoyed the work to a certain degree, but mostly I was just bored. I got used to the language very quickly, but it still bored me to death. There is a great story here, but it is hidden under the sea of words. The translation that I read, which is by Lydia Davis, is very modern and meant to make the work more accessible to new generations of readers, but I found it removed from the time in which the novel takes place. Since the original is in French, it is unnecessary to translate it to the 19th century English, but doing so would probably capture the spirit of the period better.

It was with great difficulty that I finished the book, and not much of the time spent reading it was pleasant. Despite this I will probably continue to read the rest of the books in "In Search of Lost time," and hopefully as I get older and become a better reader I will enjoy it more. Proust is one of those authors you are glad to have read, even if you don't enjoy reading him. Next time, however, I will probably pick an older translation.

Friday, June 19, 2009

French Literature (continued)

I'm not going to lie, Proust is taking a long time to read. I was supposed to have finished "Swann's Way" a few days ago but I've been slacking off. I have also been occupied myself with my writing and other reading, as well as French lessons. Hopefully I will get it done by Wednesday, since I plan to return it to the library on Thursday along with the other books.

Meanwhile I've been enjoying E.M. Forster's book about writing called "Aspects of the Novel." It is absolutely delightful. I will write more about it once I'm done. I'm also planning to read one of his novel once I'm done with the whole French literature program that I created for myself.

Monday, June 15, 2009

French Literature


Usually when I have a lot of time, like during school breaks, I like to come up with some sort of a theme focus my studies on. Somehow French literature is my theme for the beginning of this summer break. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but it happened unintentionally, and is turning out to be a lot of fun. One of my professors loaned me a copy of Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs du Mal" a little while back, which I have been reading ever since. And I just started reading Proust's "Swann's Way," which is the first of his "In Search of Lost Times" series. I went to a friend's going away party two nights ago, and he was giving away some books. One of the books I took was Balzac's "Père Goriot," which is also French. So I decided that I should just spend the next couple of weeks reading these works, as well as some essays by Derrida and Foucault, just to get a solid French experience before I move on.

Also I'm planning to continue studying French this summer. That will start...any day now.

Afterwards I'll be reading a lot of Shakespeare and some 19th century British novels as well as some epic poems. I feel so motivated; hopefully this motivation won't go away too soon.

Friday, June 12, 2009

James Joyce's Dubliners


I just finished reading Jame Joyce's "Dubliners" which is great. It is a collection of short stories; some of these stories are so brilliant I am sure to spend some more time studying them individually later. It is interesting to read a collection of short stories as a book; these stories are put together in the same collection for a reason, so when you read them together you try to find some sort of an arc that links them together. But by doing so it is hard not to consider what the collection has to say about the author, or what the author's intention is for writing them and putting them together. You may have already known from some of my previous entries that I have absolutely no interest in an author's intent. So, reading it this way is...quite intersting.

I didn't enjoy some of the stories, or parts of some of the stories, which makes me feel like they shouldn't be read as a collection. And like I said, some of them are so brilliant that I wish I had read them separately. And I will. Later.

Joyce is one of those authors whose voice is so distinct to me. There is a tone that underscore his writing, which to me is what hold these stories together. I didn't spend any time analyzing his style so I can't say exactly what it is about his voice that is different, but I feel the same way about him that I feel about William Saroyan or Jane Austen; these voices convey a sense of place, making the settings of the stories just as important as the lives of the characters and all the other elements.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Another post about Shakespeare!

It's the weekend before the finals, hence I am compelled to procrastinate and update my blog instead of doing homework.

Drama is a form of literature; that's how I justify writing about play performances here. This blog, I just realized, should have been called "Lit. for Lunch." That sounds so much better than "Books for Lunch." And it makes more sense. A book is a thing, with no value in and of itself. It's what inside it, the literature, that makes it divine. But this is no time to change the name; I am here to talk about Shakespeare.

"Much Ado About Nothing" is one of my most favorite plays of Shakespeare because of its humor and witticism. But the reason it is very near and dear to my heart is because it was the first Shakespeare play I have ever read. I was but a sophomore in high school; and it was then that I started this love affair with the Bard and his works.

A few weeks ago I went to see a very small production of the play. It was the first time I had experienced the text in years since I was in a production of it in high school. I was completely enamored by the production, and I fell in love with the play once again. I gained insights into the heart of the play that I didn't before at a younger age. More than anything the play is about deception, and from it derives the comedy, tragedy, and irony that orchestrate the story. Lies can bring people together in matrimony, or it can destroy our honor and ruin our life. Such a theme is universal and timeless; it is certainly the reason the play could retain its popularity for so long.
The Re-Theatre's "Much Ado About Nothing"

And few weeks later I went to see another variation of the play done by the same company. This production uses the structure of "Much Ado" to construct a new story, and give birth to a very refreshing and hysterically hilarious performance. By using the same theme and updating the characters and other surroundings, it reaffirms the idea that, in any time and place, the essential truth about human beings remains the same. And by capturing that truth in art can artists offer insights into our souls, and create a work that not only speaks to us but gives us a better understanding of ourselves and makes us a better person in some way.

Obviously I could go on and on about Shakespeare, but I will stop now.

The Tempest

A few days ago I read Shakespeare's "The Tempest" for the first time; it was my way of taking a little break from preparing for the finals. The play isn't one of his best, in my opinion, but it certainly is entertaining and very well crafted. Shakespeare is great fun once you get used to the language, and to looking at the marginal notes and footnotes. A lot of times I feel that my edition (edited by Professor Stephen Greenblatt) offers too many explanations, which could be annoying at times. Oftentimes it is better to just read the text and take whatever meanings you get from it rather than looking at every explanation.

I'm planning to read a lot of Shakespeare plays this summer. It is good to study something important while at the same time having a whole lot of fun. I used to think that no matter how much I loved Shakespeare I could never make it my field of study; I wasn't so much interested in the historical context or the Shakespearean scholarship in general. But now I think I am. I've been spending some time studying the British monarchy and the rein of Queen Elizabeth I; I have also been attending a lot of theatrical performances. This has helped me in many ways to enjoy the works; the history provides insights into the context of the plays, and the theater helps to enhance my vision of the texts. And being older and more literate also helps.